Hunters could wield larger arsenal against animal invaders

COLUMBIA — A bill in the South Carolina Legislature would give residents more freedom to kill pesky varmints.

Rep. Phillip Lowe, R-Florence, introduced H. 4943, which would allow someone with a hunting license to kill coyotes, armadillos, and feral hogs at night from the last day of February until the first day of July.

The key difference between the proposed change and the current law is that hunters could use essentially any legal firearm to kill the beasts. Current state law specifies that people can shoot coyotes and armadillos with a rifle no larger than .22 caliber rimfire, a shotgun with a shot size no larger than a BB, or a sidearm of any caliber that has iron sites and a barrel no longer than nine inches.

The House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee approved the bill at the end of March.

Lowe’s bill, which drew co-sponsorships from Beaufort County legislators Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, and Andy Patrick, R-Hilton Head Island, gives people more options. Under H. 4943 they would include: legal firearm or archery equipment, with bait, electronic calls, lights, infrared, thermal or laser sighting devices, night vision devices, or any device that could help find and target the animals.

Coyotes were first spotted in South Carolina’s upstate in 1978, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, and have spread to every corner. The 35-pound animals were brought into the state illegally for hound-running. They are considered a threat to the state’s deer population.

Stephen Slice, a federal agriculture official in Columbia, said coyotes and feral hogs damage farming operations.

“Coyotes are lethal threats to any livestock, especially smaller livestock like chickens, goats, sheep and young calves and pigs. Coyotes will attack and maim or kill all of these animals,” said Slice.

“Coyotes aren’t much of a threat to row crops or vegetables, but feral hogs can root up and destroy large portions or entire fields of crops overnight,” he added.

But when wild hogs aren’t destructive, they can be frisky, which presents another problem.